


Rock and a Hard Place

by Vagrant_Blvrd



Series: Kings of Nowhere [66]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe- GTA V, Fake AH Crew, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-08 20:21:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20841446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vagrant_Blvrd/pseuds/Vagrant_Blvrd
Summary: The first time it happens is shortly after the Vagabond joins the crew.





	Rock and a Hard Place

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt fill for Anon who sent me the most amazing Ask on Tumblr:
> 
> _I’ve been having a good time imagining the first time the Big Bad Scary Vagabond™ manages to doze off leaning against Gavin, who at first is quietly panicking because he doesn’t know Ry well yet and he’s still a creepy assassin and now Gavin is trapped by him and they’ve never seen Ryan sleep before and he’s trying to silently get somebody to help him escape, until Ryan starts doing very quiet lil snores and maybe mumbly sleep-talking and Gav starts to soften to their insane murderer a bit_
> 
> ...and then shenanigans happened, idk.

The first time it happens is shortly after the Vagabond joins the crew.

========

He’s just returned from one of those seek and destroy missions Geoff’s grown wary of handing out to the crew because there’s no knowing how out of hand they’ll get.

Could be a quiet(ish) little affair they’re meant to be. Property damage and all that confined to whatever building their target’s chosen to set up shop in. Could be a slighter louder event, something that makes the evening news while the culprits sip their beer and bicker over who gets the first slice of pizza while Geoff angrily sips his diet soda and (quietly) regrets entering into a life of crime. 

More often than not, however, it ends up as a city-wide disaster. Flashing lights, screaming siren, and live footage of the car chase through Los Santos’ streets and freeway system with Jack setting up a betting pool while Geoff (loudly) regrets meeting any of them, let alone recruiting them.

Looks a little singed around the edges like Michael and Jeremy while Ray looks untouched by whatever disaster they must have caused. Waves the three of them off when they ask if he wants to go out for bevs to celebrate not dying horribly yet another day. 

Makes his way over to the couch where Gavin’s fussing with the brace on his left ankle resting on the coffee table. Injured it on a botch job a few days ago and it itches something fierce. Sits down next to him making these noises like a man three times his age and just.

Sits there.

Doesn’t say a damn thing, not even about the way Gavin’s frozen like a prey animal hoping to remain undetected as a predator goes prowling past.

Several minutes pass by without a peep out of him, and Gavin relaxes. Gets restless, bored, after another handful of minutes tick by and pulls out his phone.

Contacts to keep up with, business to deal with that doesn’t wait, and his bum ankle slowing him down enough to get the chance to catch up on things for a change. He gets through a hefty chunk of it before he realizes he’s leaning to the side a touch? 

Definitely not sitting upright the way he had been when he first tackled the mess of an inbox of his, and there’s this slight cramp along his side making itself known.

Gavin glances over, sees the Vagabond’s closer to him than before. Might be due to the state of Geoff’s couch, all the shenanigans it’s endured over the years (Roughhousing and the like, one of the other dive-tackling Gavin for some slight or inexplicable whim. Simple age catching up to it, cushions becoming compressed and all that, forming dips here and there where they sit most.)

“Er,” Gavin says quietly, too startled at the situation to do much more than that. “What?”

The Vagabond makes this odd little grumbling/snuffling noise, shifts about and let out this annoyed sounding sigh until - 

“Um?!” 

\- he tosses and turns and contorts himself until he’s on his side, head pillowed on Gavin’s lap and _dear God_ what does he do now?

Gavin stares down at the Vagabond in silent – it’s not terror, not that dramatic, just. 

Dread?

Uneasiness?

The man’s this terrifying figure around the city, and Gavin’s seen some of it himself. In person and over the various camera feeds he uses to keep track of the others when they’re out on jobs and whatever else, just in case. (Adds to his workload like nothing else, but the peace of mind it gives him is worth it.)

Doesn’t know him all that well even though he’s worked a few jobs with the crew before this, but...Gavin’s mind is going in circles now, isn’t it. 

Tripped up by the damn Vagabond snoozing away on him like it’s no big deal.

And that’s another thing, isn’t it? The Vagabond’s worked with them several times in the past. Mostly quick little one-off jobs. Minor bit of prep work before hand – if any at all – and out the door with his cut the same day.

A few longer jobs, things that took more time and resources to manage. Some reconnaissance and all that. Had him loitering about the penthouse with everyone else or wherever they were working out of at the time. Long days, hours. Michael the others finding somewhere to nap if they didn’t have the luxury of going to their own places for a few hours.

Gavin can’t remember a moment in all that time where any of them come across the Vagabond hidden away somewhere for quick snooze.

He’s so focused on his predicament that he _almost_ doesn’t hear the door to the penthouse open. 

_Almost_ doesn’t hear Michael and Jeremy and Ray shushing each other and laughing at something before all three of them go silent at almost the same moment. 

_Almost_ thinks one of the bastards will help him out of this awkward situation before the Vagabond wakes up and thinks – well, who knows really, but Gavin’s sure it won’t end well for him.

What he definitely hears is Jeremy’s quiet, _“What the hell am I looking at here?”_. Ray’s _“Aw, they’re adorable.”_. Worst of all, however, is Michael’s mean little laugh before _someone_ takes a picture of Gavin and the Vagabond with their damn phone.

“Don’t just stand there, do something!” Gavin hisses, freezing in place when the Vagabond makes that snorting-snuffling noise again.

Snoring, Gavin realizes.

The Vagabond is _snoring_. 

Tosses and turns a bit until he finds a comfortable position and lets out a quiet sigh as he settles down again.

Michael’s grinning, wide and delighted as he takes another damn picture before doing something on his phone. (Gavin hears Ray and Jeremy’s message notifications go off, so there’s that mystery solved, and Gavin sighs.)

Knows Michael won’t help him now, and by the way the other two are giggling to themselves they’re not about to either.

Michael just gives him a jaunty little wave as goes over to the kitchen counter to snatch up the wallet he must have left behind earlier. Pauses on his way back to Ray and Jeremy to take yet another picture of the sight Gavin and Vagabond must make to deserve so many pictures to commemorate the occasion.

“You’re the worst,” Gavin says, because he _is_. 

Absolute bully, along with his cronies in Ray and Jeremy and just. Just _awful_.

“Yeah,” Michael says, like he’s proud of himself “I really am, aren’t I?”

That grin of his softens when the Vagabond mumbles something in his sleep. Goes all fond because Michael knew the Vagabond before this, didn’t he. Worked the odd job with him a time or two. Vouched for him when Geoff first floated the idea of bringing him into the crew on a full-time basis.

_Be nice_, Michael mouths, as though Gavin’s lunatic enough to bully the damn Vagabond of all people, and then he’s out the door with Ray and Jeremy on his heels.

Gavin can hear their quiet laughter as they walk away leaving him still solidly stuck where he is.

_Lovely._

========

Michael thinks Gavin’s being stupid when it comes to the Vagabond. Insists the man’s just as much of an idiot as he is, if not more so.

“Seriously, Gav. Guy puts on a good front, but he’s dumb as hell.”

It’s reflex at that point to try and shush Michael, what with the Vagabond just across the room from them. 

He’s frowning over the staggering amount of knives he carries on his person as he goes about sharpening them on by one. Nasty looking things, all shapes and sizes and while Gavin is no stranger to the practice of carrying weapons and so on, the Vagabond is one of those overzealous sorts.

Those damn knives of his and various guns he secrets on his person, walking arsenal and all that, which just makes him more unsettling to Gavin.

And yes, he knows Geoff would never have hired the man on if he felt he would be a threat to the crew, but that doesn’t make him any less intimidating. (The things he says sometimes. Side comments or jokes that make everyone else pause for a beat or two before moving on? Yes.)

“Michael, no,” Gavin hisses, hunching down when the Vagabond glances their way as Michael laughs at him for being an idiot. “He’ll hear!”

Michael just keeps laughing though, like Gavin’s being silly and the Vagabond won’t murder them in their sleep one night just because. 

(Well. They’re an annoying bunch, which is good as reason as anything to kill them all and be done with it when you think about it.)

========

There’s a heist soon, all kinds of prep jobs and assignments. 

Geoff and Jack take on the dubious honor of dealing with Lester and Agent 14 while they sent the rest of them out to handle the rest. Have clearly lost their damn minds because they insist on pairing Gavin up with the Vagabond up, send them on the more sensitive jobs.

Which.

To be fair, the Vagabond’s a better hand at stealth than Gavin expected, but it’s still the Vagabond, isn’t it? (Gavin may not live in terror of him anymore if he ever did, but he’s still an unknown to Gavin, and if there’s something Gavin’s not a fan of it’s not knowing things, so.)

Michael and the rest of the Lads do the heavy lifting, as these things go. Michael and Jeremy feet on the ground type feet on the ground types while Ray keeps an eye on things from above. 

Lindsay and her cabal of B-Team misfits are operating in the shadows. Trevor reaching out to Alfredo and other independents like him to make sure Agent 14 is being as honest with them as expected from someone like him.

All hands on deck sort of situation because there’s no trusting the government to deal fairly with them if they expect to come out of things (mostly) unscathed.

“Er,” Gavin says, because the Vagabond is staring at him, head cocked just so. “Can I help you?”

The Vagabond’s been watching Gavin work. Hovering over his shoulder and making these little noises that sound like quiet approval as Gavin finesses the files they’re looking for out from behind encryption after encryption and passwords that are far too easy to crack.

Not the best time to have a leisurely conversation, what with the guards trying to break back into the room the two of them have barricaded themselves into. _Angry_ guards and all their yelling and threats and shrieking alarms enough to give him a headache.

The Vagabond snorts, and turns as the guards break through the door thanks to the battering ram they’ve hauled up here.

Gavin watches as the Vagabond’s arm snaps up, sees him switch his aim from center of mass on the guard in front to the more difficult to hit target of his unprotected neck. Hears the gun go off and a moment later the guard swats at his neck and the red-tufted dart embedded there.

Eyes wide behind the visor of his helmet before the tranquilizer takes effect and he collapses.

Two more shots in quick succession and the guards that follow him into the room go down as well, and finally the yelling stops. There are more guards on the way, but if all goes well the two of them will be long gone by the time they get here.

“Oh, nicely done,” Gavin says.

Personal request from Agent 14 for them to keep the body count to a minimum, and these shiny tranquilizer weapons he brought them to make it more likely on their end.

The Vagabond looks back at him, seems bemused as though Gavin’s the odd one out for offering a compliment on something like that.

“What?” Gavin asks, feeling a bit defensive even though it was a lovely bit of marksmanship on the Vagabond’s part. 

“Are you done yet?” the mas asks, strange note to his voice Gavin can’t quite place.

Not anger or annoyance, but clearly something to it, so Gavin decides to leave things well enough alone and checks to see if the files are down downloading.

========

There’s a fair bit of running after that. 

Some skulking going on when they make it to the parking garage and have to sneak past armed guards on high alert. 

The Vagabond’s hand on his back when one wanders a little too close to their position, quiet murmur of ”Easy, easy. He doesn’t know we’re here,” and Gavin’s heart beating rabbit-fast in his chest.

He’s no novice to situations like this. Started out as a bit of a thief and all, but back then he was smart enough to avoid moments like these, didn’t he? Kept away from the more dangerous jobs knowing there was no one to watch his back if he did, pull a daring rescue if he got caught.

“Okay, now,” the Vagabond says, and gives Gavin a gentle nudge towards a maintenance door they can use to reach the outside and safety.

========

The second time it happens, Gavin (almost) sees it coming.

========

It’s a long, grueling week. All heist prep and planning and so on. Mistakes and missteps and other little snags here and there which are all part and parcel of things for the crew.

Gavin and the Vagabond visiting sites and facilities to grab more files, intel for the heist itself while the others acquire vehicles and other lovely things. 

The Vagabond moves on to help Michael and the others while Gavin stays at the penthouse to untangle the files and other interesting bits of information they’ve gathered. Pieces it all together so it makes sense, will help when they move on to the heist itself.

Spends long, tedious hours at it, the others moving around him as he does since he’s in the main room of the penthouse. (Summer and this perfect bit of light that comes through the windows, lets him soak in the warmth more than he would in what Michael likes to call the nerd lair.)

Dropping off energy drinks and takeout and reminding him sleep is a thing human bodies need, so maybe give it a try sometime, dickhead. (And he will, just a little longer.)

“Hey,” Gavin hears. Soft, quiet. “Maybe you should call it a night.”

Gavin looks up to see the Vagabond looking down at him.

He blinks, and winces when he realizes someone’s closed the blinds, pulled the curtain and all that due to the late hour. Everyone else gone home and Geoff off on a dinner date with Jack the two of them are passing off as a business expense Agent 14 will have to put on his report. (Can’t let the bastard think they’re thrilled with him using them like this.)

His eyes feel hot, dry, and his back aches. The coffee table is covered in cans of energy drinks. Mugs with coffee and tea and a smattering of empty takeout containers.

A damn mess, and sure sign Michael has been too busy to stop by the penthouse to yell at him for being a disgusting animal.

“Oh, uh,” Gavin says, brilliant rejoinder. “I will soon. I just want to get through this first.”

Annoying bit of encryption, stubborn as hell, although that could be the lack of sleep talking.

The Vagabond makes this grumbling noise that trails off into a sigh as he watches Gavin a moment more. Slips out of his jacket and tosses it over the arm of the couch as takes a seat next to Gavin with a tired little sigh.

Gavin watches him from the corner of his eye, sees him carefully scoot a coffee mug aside here, energy drink can there before he unlaces his boots and kicks his feet up on the coffee table. Wriggles his toes a bit as he picks up the remote and turns the television on, clicking through the endless channels Geoff gets with the cable package of his and settles on what looks like an old science fiction show.

Dated special effects and overdone acting, the sort of thing that’s so bad it circles back around to good. Turns the volume down low out of consideration for Gavin, which is nice of him but unnecessary.

“You can put the volume up,” Gavin says, “it won’t bother me.”

He was good with tuning out distraction before he joined the crew, and just got better at it once he had, given the insanity that runs rampant with them. (Prime target for good-natured bullying they get up to and all that.)

The Vagabond laughs, this quiet little chuckle sort of thing.

“Nah,” he says. “Makes it easier to do interpretive lip-reading.”

That - 

Gavin doesn’t know what to make of that, so he leaves the Vagabond to it and goes back to his own work. 

Smiles to himself when the Vagabond laughs to himself as the show goes on, quiet little chuckle of his again or this odd croaky thing that speaks to the sort of exhaustion where the smallest thing is hysterical as all hell.

After a while even that tapers off, and Gavin glances over when he hears a soft thump. Sees the Vagabond listing to the side, clearly asleep, and the remote on the floor he must have dropped.

At some point he’d taken off that mask of his, tossed it onto the coffee table as an afterthought. Too tired to bother with it, or maybe felt he didn’t need it.

Either way, there’s quite a bit a bit of trust behind that small gesture of his, even if he’s still got his face paint of his. 

Gavin watches as gravity and the worn out couch of Geoff’s do their thing, Vagabond slumping over to lean against Gavin, head tipping onto his shoulder.

Goes so very, very still when the Vagabond makes this noise in the back of his throat that sounds like something caught between a cough and a sigh, and wriggles about until he’s comfortable.

Makes little noises now and then, mumbles too quietly – and garbled – for Gavin to make out what he’s saying, but whatever it is doesn’t seem to be part of an unpleasant dream or the onset of a nightmare.

Gavin tries to focus on his work, but the Vagabond’s snoring and quiet mumbling are proving to be far more distracting than a full-fledged gunfight or any other form of chaos he’s been introduced to since joining the crew.

Loose strands of his hair that have come loose from his ponytail tickling Gavin’s neck, brushing his face. Steady sound of his breathing so close to Gavin’s ear, warmth of his body bleeding through the t-shirt he’s wearing, and it really has been a long week hasn’t it?

Gavin might have been cooped up in the penthouse the last little while, but he’s been working almost non-stop himself. Hunched over his laptop and squirreled away in the nerd lair for most of it.

Not enough time to stop for a proper meal or even remember to drink something without an indecent caffeine level.

Gavin sighs – seems to do a lot of that lately, doesn't he? - and squints at the screen of his laptop. The files he has up are so much gibberish at the moment and experience tells him it won’t get better if he keeps on as he’s been doing.

Another one of those clear signs, this one telling him he should pack it up for the night. Sleep, maybe, if he can get his brain to slow down enough for that.

He glances down at the Vagabond, big scary bastard that he is all snuggled up to him like the strays Lindsay’s always mucking about with. 

Adorable, scrappy little balls of fluff and feisty as hell. He tries not to laugh at the thought of the Vagabond being much along the same lines at the moment because with his luck the bastard will just know about it somehow, but honestly? There’s a marked resemblance.

After the week they’ve all had he’s loathe to wake the Vagabond. Doesn’t begrudge him the chance to get sleep while he can.

He can feel his own exhaustion welling up like rising fog as he fully acknowledges it. Fights back a yawn as he considers the situation.

The Vagabond doesn’t seem such an imposing figure like this, and while he’s still unsettling and a bit creepy, he’s also - 

Well. 

Gavin’s not sure what he is, other than a little odd.

Not unlike the rest of them with their quirks and such, mismatched idiots the lot of them. More terrifying than the others, perhaps, but Gavin’s gotten to know him better this past week and he’s not the monster the rumors make him out to be.

Far from it, actually.

Gavin scratches his chin, grimaces at the untamed scruff he finds there and makes a mental note to clean that up a bit in the morning. (Morning, afternoon. Whenever.)

The Vagabond snuffles in his sleep, dragging Gavin’s wandering mind back on track.

Geoff’s couch is getting up there in age, sure, but it’s still comfortable. Strikes a balance between fashionable décor and simple human comfort, even with the sagging cushions and all.

The suite Geoff’s set aside for him here at the penthouse is a few floors down, assuming Gavin could get out from under the Vagabond’s not inconsiderable bulk without waking him. Not impossibly far away, but the logistics of it all are too much for him at the moment. (Can’t be bothered and all.)

So.

Gavin sighs (again), and saves his work before powering his laptop down. Finagles his laptop down to the floor and scoots it under the couch where it won’t get stepped on, and wriggles around himself until he’s comfortable enough he (probably) won’t end up with a crick in his neck.

Laughs as the Vagabond grumbles to himself, face scrunching up at being bounced about a bit in the process, and closes his eyes. (Just resting them, that’s all. Quick little break and then back to it.)

But he’s got the Vagabond’s quiet breathing in his ear, warm weight against him and Geoff’s damnably comfortable couch underneath him, and it’s not long before he falls asleep himself, too tired to fight it anymore.

========

The third time it happens – well.

To be fair, Gavin stops counting after that second time. Doesn’t see the point anymore when it all gets tangled up together with the times he falls asleep on the Vagabond.

This whole give and take thing they get caught up in to the amusement of the crew at large and Ryan in particular because he’s just that kind of bastard.

“You’re laughing at me again, aren’t you,” Gavin mutters, tired after a very long day of running and hiding and terrified yelling because Ryan is quite possibly the worst driver Gavin’s ever met in his life, including himself.

Ryan chuckles, and tugs Gavin’s laptop out of his hands to set it down on their coffee table. Picks up Gavin’s phone and turns it off before pocketing it, slowly and methodically divests Gavin of the various gadgets and whatnot he’s surrounded himself with while working.

“Just a little bit, yeah,” Ryan admits, looking down at him with his head cocked just so.

Familiar gesture after all this time, one Ryan saves just for him. 

No mask or face paint, and his hair is out of the ponytail he keeps it in while he’s out and about. Looks soft and approachable in an old shirt and pair of sweatpants, and Gavin - 

“_Rude_,” Gavin mutters, fighting a smile at the one Ryan’s giving him.

Quiet little thing full of fondness and affection and Ryan knows for a fact Gavin’s weak against it, cheating bastard that he is. Comes at Gavin with the big guns right off and so damn smug about it afterwards. 

“Come to bed?” Ryan asks, holding a hand out to him as though he thinks Gavin’s answer will be anything but yes.


End file.
